Kurdish Fighters Near Kobani Say US Weapons Not Enough

WASHINGTON/BEIRUT (Reuters) - The U.S. military said it had air-dropped arms to Syrian Kurds battling Islamic State near the Syrian town of Kobani, the first such delivery in more than a month of fighting and a move that could upset Turkey.

The U.S. Central Command said it had delivered weapons, ammunition and medical supplies to the Kurds who are trying to stave off an onslaught by Islamic State fighters who have overrun swathes of Syria and Iraq this year.

However, the main Syrian Kurdish group defending Kobani from the better armed Islamic State militants said on Monday the town had received "a large quantity" of ammunition and weapons.

The main Syrian Kurdish armed group defending the Syrian border town on Kobani against Islamic State attackers said on Monday arms air-dropped by the United States would not be enough for it to win the battle, and asked for more support.

Redur Xelil, a spokesman for the Kurdish YPG group, said the weapons dropped overnight would have a "positive impact" on the battle and the morale of fighters who have been out-gunned by Islamic State. But he added: "Certainly it will not be enough to decide the battle."

"We do not think the battle of Kobani will end that quickly. The forces of (Islamic State) are still heavily present and determined to occupy Kobani. In addition, there is resolve (from the YPG) to repel this attack," he told Reuters in an interview conducted via Skype.

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Xelil declined to give details on the type of weaponry dropped by U.S. military. The U.S. military said the supplies, described by U.S. officials as "small arms", had been provided by the Kurdish authorities in Iraq.

Kobani, also known as Ayn al-Arab, is besieged by Islamic State fighters to the east, west and south and bordered to the north by Turkey. The Turkish government has turned down Syrian Kurdish requests for it to open a land corridor so Kobani could be resupplied from other Kurdish areas of northern Syria.

Turkey views the Syrian Kurds with deep suspicion because of their ties to the PKK - a group that waged a decades-long militant campaign for Kurdish rights in Turkey.

The "resupply" of Kurdish fighters marks an escalation in the U.S. effort to help local forces beat back the radical Sunni militant group in Syria after years of trying to avoid getting dragged into the more than three-year Syrian civil war.

The United States began carrying out air strikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq in August and about a month later started bombing the militant group in neighboring Syria, in part to prevent it from enjoying safe haven on Syrian territory.

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In a brief statement, the U.S. Central Command said U.S. Air Force C-130 aircraft "delivered weapons, ammunition and medical supplies that were provided by Kurdish authorities in Iraq and intended to enable continued resistance against ISIL's attempts to overtake Kobani," using an acronym to refer to Islamic State.

The Central Command said 135 U.S. air strikes near Kobani in recent days, combined with continued resistance against Islamic State on the ground, had slowed the group's advances into the town and killed hundreds of its fighters.

Smoke rises from the Syrian town of Kobani, seen from near the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province October 14, 2014. A senior Iraqi Kurdish official said on Tuesday that Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) had provided military assistance to Syrian Kurdish forces battling Islamic State fighters in the town of Kobani.
REUTERS/Umit Bektas

"However, the security situation in Kobani remains fragile as ISIL continues to threaten the city and Kurdish forces continue to resist," the statement said.

The Central Command mentioned no new air strikes around Kobani, whose strategic location has blocked the radical Sunni Muslim militants from consolidating their gains across northern Syria.

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A spokesman for Kurdish forces fighting Islamic State militants in Kobani later confirmed on his Twitter feed that a "large quantity of ammunition and weapons" had reached the town.

U.S. officials, speaking in a conference call, described the weapons delivered as "small arms" but gave no details.

The United States gave Turkey advance notice of its plans to deliver arms to the Syrian Kurds, a group Turkey views with deep distrust because of its links to Turkish Kurds who have fought a an insurgency in which 40,000 people were killed.

"President Obama spoke to Erdogan yesterday and was able to notify him of our intent to do this and the importance that we put on it," one senior U.S. official told reporters.

"We understand the longstanding Turkish concern with the range of groups, including Kurdish groups, that they have been engaged in conflict with," he added. "However, our very strong belief is that both the United States and Turkey face a common enemy in ISIL and that we need to act on an urgent basis."

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The Turkish presidency said Obama and Erdogan had discussed Syria, including measures that could be taken to stop Islamic State's advances, and Kobani.

In a statement published on Sunday, it also said Turkish assistance to over 1.5 million Syrians, including around 180,000 from Kobani, was noted in the conversation.

Obama and Erdogan agreed to continue working closely to strengthen the joint fight against Islamic State, it added.

Three C-130 transport aircraft dropped 27 bundles of weapons and medical supplies to the Syrian Kurds, said a second U.S. official, adding the planes left Syrian air space unharmed and that the majority of the bundles had reached their targets.

In comments published by Turkish media on Monday, Erdogan equated the main Syrian Kurdish group, the PYD, with the PKK.

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"It is also a terrorist organization. It will be very wrong for America with whom we are allied and who we are together with in NATO to expect us to say 'yes' (to supporting the PYD) after openly announcing such support for a terrorist organization," Erdogan said.

Also on Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Turkey was facilitating the passage of Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters to Kobani to aid Syrian Kurds defending the town against Islamic State militants.

Cavusoglu, speaking at a news conference, did not provide details on the transfer of the fighters. Earlier, the U.S. military said it had air-dropped arms to the Syrian Kurds in Kobani.